As director of corporate research at the Colliers Ostendorf-Morris commercial realty brokerage, she oversees five staffers and two part-timers who develop its real estate market information, do research for brokers and administer the firm’s databases. Ms. Benmerzouga also ran its internship program the last two years.

Not bad for a product of the internship program herself in 2006 who won a full-time job at Colliers after graduating from Cleveland State University with a finance degree.

Her informal Colliers role is as a Muslim ambassador.

“I worried about what kind of news people were watching,” Ms. Benmerzouga said. “I decided that all I had to do is be myself.”

She said she found many colleagues afraid to ask questions about Muslim beliefs and remembers telling one it was OK to wish her happy birthday and adding, ‘I’ll look for a present.’”

Warren Morris, Colliers CEO, said, “It’s a wonderful experience to have her here” because her background provided a growth opportunity for many at the company. He added, “I can’t say how many people here who say they depend on her work. She gives 110% and asks if she can do more.”

Megan Jones, a former Colliers colleague, said Ms. Benmerzouga’s story is “amazing because of her ability to come from another culture, adapt to American culture and succeed.” Besides being a fun co-worker, Ms. Benmerzouga “gets more done in eight hours than some people can in a week,” Ms. Jones said.

Ms. Benmerzouga came to Cleveland in 2004 to attend Cleveland State because she and her father, Ali, a university math and statistics professor in Oman, decided the United States was the best destination for her as a Muslim woman to pursue a college diploma and career. Her father, originally from Algeria, had contacts here because he earned a doctorate at Case Western Reserve University. Moreover, Ms. Benmerzouga was born here.

Even so, landing at Cleveland State presented an unusual challenge: her textbooks were in English, so at first she had to translate them into Arabic to study. By the time she graduated from CSU’s finance program, she developed an interest in real estate from the late Dr. James Webb. She also is following her late professor’s advice to pursue an MBA at Cleveland State.

New-breed civic activities also occupy Ms. Benmerzouga. She is a vice president of both the Cleveland Area alumni chapter of Beta Gamma Sigma, an honor society for business students, and Minds Matter of Cleveland, which mentors and tutors high-achieving students from low-income families.

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